WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The new chief of the Internal Revenue Service told Congress on Monday the tax-collecting agency would fully investigate and repair the problems that led to the inappropriate targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, appearing before Congress for the first time since moving into the top job two weeks ago, said the agency would make a public accounting of the practices that have led to multiple investigations and a political firestorm.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party firebrand and 2012 presidential contender, announced on Wednesday she will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives but said her surprise decision had nothing to do with multiple investigations into her campaign finances.

Bachmann, a conservative Minnesota Republican whose outspoken style and sharp criticism of President Barack Obama made her a prominent and polarizing national figure, did not give a specific reason for stepping down. But she said she was not ducking the likelihood of a difficult re-election fight in her suburban Minneapolis district.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Senate panel will try on Tuesday to pry more details out of current and former officials of the Internal Revenue Service about the agency’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they sought tax-exempt status.

Lawmakers are also expected to demand answers about why officials did not earlier share with lawmakers evidence that IRS workers in Cincinnati, Ohio, had inappropriately focused on search criteria that included “Tea Party” and “patriots.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. House of Representatives panel on Friday opens the first in a series of investigative hearings in Congress on the Internal Revenue Service’s targetting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny, as the political storm over the scandal shifts to Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers from both parties are expected to grill the outgoing acting head of the agency, Steven Miller, and the Treasury Department inspector general for tax administration, J. Russell George, about the growing scandal that threatens to eclipse President Barack Obama’s second-term agenda.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. House of Representatives panel on Friday opens the first in a series of investigative hearings in Congress on the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny, as the political storm over the scandal shifts to Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers from both parties are expected to grill the outgoing acting head of the agency, Steven Miller, and the Treasury Department inspector general for tax administration, J. Russell George, about the growing scandal that threatens to eclipse President Barack Obama’s second-term agenda.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With no sign of an end to three mushrooming scandals, the White House acknowledged the rising political dangers on Wednesday by launching a concerted effort at damage control.

In a whirlwind few hours, the administration moved forcefully to counter criticism of its handling of the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, the seizure of reporters’ phone records in a Justice Department leak investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With no sign of an end to three mushrooming scandals, the White House acknowledged the rising political dangers on Wednesday by launching a concerted effort at damage control.

In a whirlwind few hours, the administration moved forcefully to counter criticism of its handling of the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, the seizure of reporters’ phone records in a Justice Department leak investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fresh off a redemptive win in South Carolina’s special election, former Governor Mark Sanford’s return to Congress will make him a prominent wild card in an already fractious Republican caucus.

Sanford, whose political career was short-circuited in 2009 by an extramarital affair that marred his last 18 months as governor, earned a political rebirth along with a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday by defeating Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch.

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) – Federal officials reported
flight delays at U.S. airports for a third consecutive day on
Tuesday, fueling a political blame game as Republicans and
Democrats accused each other of causing the furloughs of
thousands of air-traffic controllers.

On Capitol Hill and at the White House, the rhetoric over
across-the-board federal budget cuts known as “sequestration”
became increasingly biting. Both sides tried to take political
advantage – and avoid responsibility – for cuts by the Federal
Aviation Administration that officials say could plague the
country’s aviation system during the summer travel season.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s campaign to curb gun violence after the Newtown school massacre was dealt a crippling blow on Wednesday when the U.S. Senate rejected a plan to expand background checks for gun buyers.

Despite emotional pleas from families of victims of the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and broad public support, the plan to extend background checks for sales made online and at gun shows failed on a 54-46 vote, six short of the 60 votes it needed to clear a procedural hurdle in the Senate.